Sarah Harding Reveals Secret Four Year Addiction To Sleeping Pills

Sarah Harding: My Four Year Addiction To Pills

Pop star Sarah Harding has admitted that she was addicted to sleeping pills as well as alcohol following a bust-up with ex-boyfriend Theo De Vries in Austria last weekend.

The 30-year-old star got into a violent argument with Dutch Theo, 35, who she met whilst at a rehab facility in Cape Town, South Africa, last year.

Sarah checked into the hospital in October to get help with alcohol addiction and depression, while sunglasses salesman Theo was being treated for crack cocaine addiction and troubles with booze.

Sarah was staying at the Hotel Schloss Matzen near Innsbruck, Austria over the holidays when she was admitted to a local hospital in the early hours of New Year's Day following an argument which saw her beaten and dragged around the room by her hair after the pair relapsed and started drinking.

Elaborating on her demons further, the star has admitted to a four year addiction to sleeping pill Zopiclone - deadly when mixed with booze.

She said: "My drinking was out of control and I was addicted to sleeping pills. It was an awful combination."

"The drinking was more to give me more confidence - especially when I was going through my little wild-child stage. It was trying to maintain that f**kwit image that got me in all this trouble.

Sarah split from her fiance Tom Crane in September and turned to drink and drugs to block out her emotions.

She said: "I was drinking to deal with my emotions after the split. I just went mental. It took a couple of weeks to sink in and I went off the rails really badly. I knew I needed to go and get help.

Speaking of her experience in South Africa, Sarah said: "Rehab was a depressing place to be with a lot of troubled people. I came off Zopiclone. I started taking them four years ago and coming off them was horrible. It took three weeks in rehab to start sleeping normally again.

"When I went to South Africa I went into detox and they literally put you on Valium for three days. They literally comatose you in case you have a fit. Because if you come off alcohol too quickly you have fits. I didn't even know that.

"I wasn't drinking as heavily as some people in there, so luckily I got out after three days to continue my treatment. Everything was OK with my body, my liver was OK. I had all of that checked."

The Promise singer has admitted going against the advice of her rehab counsellors by getting into a relationship with someone she met at the facility.

She said: "They warn you not to fall in love at rehab. But I'm the sort of person that if someone tells you not to do something, I have to do it to find out for myself. I'm a stubborn little b**tard. I thought we would be able to keep each other sober. But sure enough, everything they predicted came true. I have learned a lesson, big time."

She added: "I am annoyed at myself and I am annoyed at him, Theo. Even saying his name now upsets me. I have been trying so, so hard to stay sober and get better. Since this happened I've been completely in shock."

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